Apparatus and method for communicating by using bluetooth low energy

ABSTRACT

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a communication module supporting communication based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and a processor operatively coupled to the communication module. The processor is configured to transmit control information to request the communication module to operate in a first mode. Upon receiving an advertising Packet Data Unit (PDU) of predefined types from an external electronic device, the first mode corresponds to a mode of controlling the communication module so that a scan request is transmitted to the external electronic device in response to reception of the advertising PDU of the predefined types. The communication module is configured to receive the advertising PDU from the external electronic device, while operating in the first mode, on the basis of the control information, identify that a type of the received advertising PDU corresponds to a first type distinct from the predefined types, on the basis of a header included in the received advertising PDU, bypass transmission of the scan request on the basis of the identifying, and transmit to the processor an advertising notification for representing that the advertising PDU of the first type has been received.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119of a Korean patent application number 10-2018-0092713, filed on Aug. 8,2018, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for performingcommunication by using Bluetooth low energy (BLE).

2. Description of Related Art

An electronic device may provide various functions. For example, theelectronic device may perform not only data transmission/reception usinga mobile communication network but also short-range wirelesscommunication including Bluetooth low energy (BLE). In addition, withthe development of the short-range wireless communication, theelectronic device may perform communication by using Bluetooth lowenergy to decrease power consumption.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the disclosure. No determination hasbeen made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the disclosure.

SUMMARY

An electronic device may transmit/receive data with respect to anexternal electronic device on the basis of Bluetooth low energy. If aplurality of electronic devices and a plurality of external electronicdevices are present within coverage for performing communication basedon Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), interference may occur between signalsfor a BLE connection, which may cause a failure in a search andconnection of the external electronic device. Therefore, a method fordecreasing the failure in the search and connection of the externalelectronic device may be required in the presence of the plurality ofelectronic devices or the plurality of external electronic devices.

Aspects of the disclosure are to address at least the above-mentionedproblems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantagesdescribed below. Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to providean apparatus and method for performing communication by using Bluetoothlow energy (BLE).

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device isprovided. The electronic device includes a communication module tosupport communication based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and at leastone processor operatively coupled to the communication module. The atleast one processor may be configured to transmit control information torequest the communication module to operate in a first mode. Uponreceiving an advertising Packet Data Unit (PDU) of predefined types froman external electronic device, the first mode may correspond to a modeof controlling the communication module so that a scan request istransmitted to the external electronic device in response to receptionof the advertising PDU of the predefined types. The communication modulemay be configured to receive the advertising PDU from the externalelectronic device, while operating in the first mode, on the basis ofthe control information, identify that a type of the receivedadvertising PDU corresponds to a first type distinct from the predefinedtypes, on the basis of a header included in the received advertisingPDU, bypass transmission of the scan request on the basis of theidentifying, and transmit to the at least one processor an advertisingnotification for representing that the advertising PDU of the first typehas been received.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes a user interface, awireless communication circuit configured to support BLE wirelesscommunication, and upon receiving an advertising PDU of a predefinedtype from an external electronic device, to request the externalelectronic device for additional information, and at least one processoroperatively coupled to the user interface and the wireless communicationcircuit. The wireless communication circuit may be configured to receivethe advertising PDU including a header and a payload from the externalelectronic device, identify a type of the advertising PDU included inthe header of the advertising PDU, identify a data type included in thepayload of the advertising PDU, and transmit an advertising notificationto the at least one processor on the basis of data included in theadvertising in a state of not transmitting the additional informationrequest to the external electronic device, based on the identified typeof the advertising PDU being the predefined type and if at least one ofthe data types includes a selected identifier.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes a user interface, awireless communication circuit configured to support BLE wirelesscommunication and to receive an advertising PDU including a headerincluding a field indicating a type of an advertising PDU from anexternal electronic device, and at least one processor operativelycoupled to the user interface and the wireless communication circuit.The wireless communication circuit may be configured to receive, from anexternal electronic device, an advertising PDU not including informationon the electronic device, identify that a type of the advertising PDUincluded in a header of the advertising PDU is a first type, andtransmit to the at least one processor an advertising notification onthe basis of data included in the advertising in a state of nottransmitting the additional information request to the externalelectronic device on the basis of the first type.

An apparatus and method according to various embodiments of thedisclosure can decrease a failure in a device search and/or connectionby defining a new type of an advertiser Packet Data Unit (PDU).

An apparatus and method according to various embodiments of thedisclosure can decrease interference of a scan request and connectionrequest by bypassing transmission of the scan request for advertisingreceived based on active scanning.

An apparatus and method according to various embodiments of thedisclosure can improve search and connection functions of an advertiserin producing, manufacturing, and verifying processes in which aplurality of advertiser and scanners coexist.

An apparatus and method according to various embodiments can decreasepower consumption and time consumed in scanning for a Bluetooth lowpower energy connection.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device in a networkenvironment according to various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an operating environment of an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional structure of theelectronic device 201 according to various embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a Bluetooth protocol stack according to variousembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a signal exchange for a Bluetooth Low Energy(BLE)-based communication connection of an electronic device accordingto various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an operation of an electronic device according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates an operation for receiving an advertising Packet DataUnit (PDU) according to various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an operation of processing an advertising packet onthe basis of a first type according to various embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an operation of processing an advertising packet onthe basis of predefined data according to various embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates an operation of an electronic device according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 11 illustrates an operation of an electronic device according tovarious embodiments of the disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood torefer to like parts, components, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of variousembodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thedisclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of thedisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of thedisclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for thepurpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device 101 in anetwork environment 100 according to various embodiments of thedisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic device 101 in the networkenvironment 100 may communicate with an electronic device 102 via afirst network 198 (e.g., a short-range wireless communication network),or an electronic device 104 or a server 108 via a second network 199(e.g., a long-range wireless communication network). According to anembodiment, the electronic device 101 may communicate with theelectronic device 104 via the server 108. According to an embodiment,the electronic device 101 may include a processor 120, memory 130, aninput device 150, a sound output device 155, a display device 160, anaudio module 170, a sensor module 176, an interface 177, a haptic module179, a camera module 180, a power management module 188, a battery 189,a communication module 190 (e.g., a transceiver), a subscriberidentification module (SIM) 196, or an antenna module 197. In someembodiments, at least one (e.g., the display device 160 or the cameramodule 180) of the components may be omitted from the electronic device101, or one or more other components may be added in the electronicdevice 101. In some embodiments, some of the components may beimplemented as single integrated circuitry. For example, the sensormodule 176 (e.g., a fingerprint sensor, an iris sensor, or anilluminance sensor) may be implemented as embedded in the display device160 (e.g., a display).

The processor 120 may execute, for example, software (e.g., a program140) to control at least one other component (e.g., a hardware orsoftware component) of the electronic device 101 coupled with theprocessor 120, and may perform various data processing or computation.According to one embodiment, as at least part of the data processing orcomputation, the processor 120 may load a command or data received fromanother component (e.g., the sensor module 176 or the communicationmodule 190) in volatile memory 132, process the command or the datastored in the volatile memory 132, and store resulting data innon-volatile memory 134. According to an embodiment, the processor 120may include a main processor 121 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU)or an application processor (AP)), and an auxiliary processor 123 (e.g.,a graphics processing unit (GPU), an image signal processor (ISP), asensor hub processor, or a communication processor (CP)) that isoperable independently from, or in conjunction with, the main processor121. Additionally or alternatively, the auxiliary processor 123 may beadapted to consume less power than the main processor 121, or to bespecific to a specified function. The auxiliary processor 123 may beimplemented as separate from, or as part of the main processor 121.

The auxiliary processor 123 may control at least some of functions orstates related to at least one component (e.g., the display device 160,the sensor module 176, or the communication module 190) among thecomponents of the electronic device 101, instead of the main processor121 while the main processor 121 is in an inactive (e.g., sleep) state,or together with the main processor 121 while the main processor 121 isin an active state (e.g., executing an application). According to anembodiment, the auxiliary processor 123 (e.g., an image signal processoror a communication processor) may be implemented as part of anothercomponent (e.g., the camera module 180 or the communication module 190)functionally related to the auxiliary processor 123.

The memory 130 may store various data used by at least one component(e.g., the processor 120 or the sensor module 176) of the electronicdevice 101. The various data may include, for example, software (e.g.,the program 140) and input data or output data for a command relatedthereto. The memory 130 may include the volatile memory 132 or thenon-volatile memory 134.

The program 140 may be stored in the memory 130 as software, and mayinclude, for example, an operating system (OS) 142, middleware 144, oran application 146.

The input device 150 may receive a command or data to be used by othercomponent (e.g., the processor 120) of the electronic device 101, fromthe outside (e.g., a user) of the electronic device 101. The inputdevice 150 may include, for example, a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard,or a digital pen (e.g., a stylus pen).

The sound output device 155 may output sound signals to the outside ofthe electronic device 101. The sound output device 155 may include, forexample, a speaker or a receiver. The speaker may be used for generalpurposes, such as playing multimedia or playing record, and the receivermay be used for incoming calls. According to an embodiment, the receivermay be implemented as separate from, or as part of the speaker.

The display device 160 may visually provide information to the outside(e.g., a user) of the electronic device 101. The display device 160 mayinclude, for example, a display, a hologram device, or a projector andcontrol circuitry to control a corresponding one of the display,hologram device, and projector. According to an embodiment, the displaydevice 160 may include touch circuitry adapted to detect a touch, orsensor circuitry (e.g., a pressure sensor) adapted to measure theintensity of force incurred by the touch.

The audio module 170 may convert a sound into an electrical signal andvice versa. According to an embodiment, the audio module 170 may obtainthe sound via the input device 150, or output the sound via the soundoutput device 155 or a headphone of an external electronic device (e.g.,an electronic device 102) directly (e.g., wiredly) or wirelessly coupledwith the electronic device 101.

The sensor module 176 may detect an operational state (e.g., power ortemperature) of the electronic device 101 or an environmental state(e.g., a state of a user) external to the electronic device 101, andthen generate an electrical signal or data value corresponding to thedetected state. According to an embodiment, the sensor module 176 mayinclude, for example, a gesture sensor, a gyro sensor, an atmosphericpressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gripsensor, a proximity sensor, a color sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, abiometric sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or anilluminance sensor.

The interface 177 may support one or more specified protocols to be usedfor the electronic device 101 to be coupled with the external electronicdevice (e.g., the electronic device 102) directly (e.g., wiredly) orwirelessly. According to an embodiment, the interface 177 may include,for example, a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a universalserial bus (USB) interface, a secure digital (SD) card interface, or anaudio interface.

A connecting terminal 178 may include a connector via which theelectronic device 101 may be physically connected with the externalelectronic device (e.g., the electronic device 102). According to anembodiment, the connecting terminal 178 may include, for example, a HDMIconnector, a USB connector, a SD card connector, or an audio connector(e.g., a headphone connector).

The haptic module 179 may convert an electrical signal into a mechanicalstimulus (e.g., a vibration or a movement) or electrical stimulus whichmay be recognized by a user via his tactile sensation or kinestheticsensation. According to an embodiment, the haptic module 179 mayinclude, for example, a motor, a piezoelectric element, or an electricstimulator.

The camera module 180 may capture a still image or moving images.According to an embodiment, the camera module 180 may include one ormore lenses, image sensors, image signal processors, or flashes.

The power management module 188 may manage power supplied to theelectronic device 101. According to one embodiment, the power managementmodule 188 may be implemented as at least part of, for example, a powermanagement integrated circuit (PMIC).

The battery 189 may supply power to at least one component of theelectronic device 101. According to an embodiment, the battery 189 mayinclude, for example, a primary cell which is not rechargeable, asecondary cell which is rechargeable, or a fuel cell.

The communication module 190 may support establishing a direct (e.g.,wired) communication channel or a wireless communication channel betweenthe electronic device 101 and the external electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 102, the electronic device 104, or the server 108) andperforming communication via the established communication channel. Thecommunication module 190 may include one or more communicationprocessors that are operable independently from the processor 120 (e.g.,the application processor (AP)) and supports a direct (e.g., wired)communication or a wireless communication. According to an embodiment,the communication module 190 may include a wireless communication module192 (e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wirelesscommunication module, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)communication module) or a wired communication module 194 (e.g., a localarea network (LAN) communication module or a power line communication(PLC) module). A corresponding one of these communication modules maycommunicate with the external electronic device via the first network198 (e.g., a short-range communication network, such as Bluetooth™wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) direct, or infrared data association (IrDA))or the second network 199 (e.g., a long-range communication network,such as a cellular network, the Internet, or a computer network (e.g.,LAN or wide area network (WAN)). These various types of communicationmodules may be implemented as a single component (e.g., a single chip),or may be implemented as multi components (e.g., multi chips) separatefrom each other. The wireless communication module 192 may identify andauthenticate the electronic device 101 in a communication network, suchas the first network 198 or the second network 199, using subscriberinformation (e.g., international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI))stored in the subscriber identification module 196.

The antenna module 197 may transmit or receive a signal or power to orfrom the outside (e.g., the external electronic device) of theelectronic device 101. According to an embodiment, the antenna module197 may include an antenna including a radiating element composed of aconductive material or a conductive pattern formed in or on a substrate(e.g., printed circuit board (PCB). According to an embodiment, theantenna module 197 may include a plurality of antennas. In such a case,at least one antenna appropriate for a communication scheme used in thecommunication network, such as the first network 198 or the secondnetwork 199, may be selected, for example, by the communication module190 (e.g., the wireless communication module 192) from the plurality ofantennas. The signal or the power may then be transmitted or receivedbetween the communication module 190 and the external electronic devicevia the selected at least one antenna. According to an embodiment,another component (e.g., a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC))other than the radiating element may be additionally formed as part ofthe antenna module 197.

At least some of the above-described components may be coupled mutuallyand communicate signals (e.g., commands or data) therebetween via aninter-peripheral communication scheme (e.g., a bus, general purposeinput and output (GPIO), serial peripheral interface (SPI), or mobileindustry processor interface (MIPI)).

According to an embodiment, commands or data may be transmitted orreceived between the electronic device 101 and the external electronicdevice 104 via the server 108 coupled with the second network 199. Eachof the electronic devices 102 and 104 may be a device of a same type as,or a different type, from the electronic device 101. According to anembodiment, all or some of operations to be executed at the electronicdevice 101 may be executed at one or more of the external electronicdevices 102, 104, or 108. For example, if the electronic device 101should perform a function or a service automatically, or in response toa request from a user or another device, the electronic device 101,instead of, or in addition to, executing the function or the service,may request the one or more external electronic devices to perform atleast part of the function or the service. The one or more externalelectronic devices receiving the request may perform the at least partof the function or the service requested, or an additional function oran additional service related to the request, and transfer an outcome ofthe performing to the electronic device 101. The electronic device 101may provide the outcome, with or without further processing of theoutcome, as at least part of a reply to the request. To that end, acloud computing, distributed computing, or client-server computingtechnology may be used, for example.

The electronic device according to various embodiments may be one ofvarious types of electronic devices. The electronic devices may include,for example, a portable communication device (e.g., a smartphone), acomputer device, a portable multimedia device, a portable medicaldevice, a camera, a wearable device, or a home appliance. According toan embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic devices are not limitedto those described above.

It should be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure andthe terms used therein are not intended to limit the technologicalfeatures set forth herein to particular embodiments and include variouschanges, equivalents, or replacements for a corresponding embodiment.With regard to the description of the drawings, similar referencenumerals may be used to refer to similar or related elements. It is tobe understood that a singular form of a noun corresponding to an itemmay include one or more of the things, unless the relevant contextclearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, each of such phrases as “Aor B,” “at least one of A and B,” “at least one of A or B,” “A, B, orC,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” and “at least one of A, B, or C,” mayinclude any one of, or all possible combinations of the items enumeratedtogether in a corresponding one of the phrases. As used herein, suchterms as “1st” and “2nd,” or “first” and “second” may be used to simplydistinguish a corresponding component from another, and does not limitthe components in other aspect (e.g., importance or order). It is to beunderstood that if an element (e.g., a first element) is referred to,with or without the term “operatively” or “communicatively”, as “coupledwith,” “coupled to,” “connected with,” or “connected to” another element(e.g., a second element), it means that the element may be coupled withthe other element directly (e.g., wiredly), wirelessly, or via a thirdelement.

As used herein, the term “module” may include a unit implemented inhardware, software, or firmware, and may interchangeably be used withother terms, for example, “logic,” “logic block,” “part,” or“circuitry”. A module may be a single integral component, or a minimumunit or part thereof, adapted to perform one or more functions. Forexample, according to an embodiment, the module may be implemented in aform of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Various embodiments as set forth herein may be implemented as software(e.g., the program 140) including one or more instructions that arestored in a storage medium (e.g., internal memory 136 or external memory138) that is readable by a machine (e.g., the electronic device 101).For example, a processor (e.g., the processor 120) of the machine (e.g.,the electronic device 101) may invoke at least one of the one or moreinstructions stored in the storage medium, and execute it, with orwithout using one or more other components under the control of theprocessor. This allows the machine to be operated to perform at leastone function according to the at least one instruction invoked. The oneor more instructions may include a code generated by a complier or acode executable by an interpreter. The machine-readable storage mediummay be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. Wherein,the term “non-transitory” simply means that the storage medium is atangible device, and does not include a signal (e.g., an electromagneticwave), but this term does not differentiate between where data issemi-permanently stored in the storage medium and where the data istemporarily stored in the storage medium.

According to an embodiment, a method according to various embodiments ofthe disclosure may be included and provided in a computer programproduct. The computer program product may be traded as a product betweena seller and a buyer. The computer program product may be distributed inthe form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., compact disc readonly memory (CD-ROM)), or be distributed (e.g., downloaded or uploaded)online via an application store (e.g., PlayStore™), or between two userdevices (e.g., smart phones) directly. If distributed online, at leastpart of the computer program product may be temporarily generated or atleast temporarily stored in the machine-readable storage medium, such asmemory of the manufacturer's server, a server of the application store,or a relay server.

According to various embodiments, each component (e.g., a module or aprogram) of the above-described components may include a single entityor multiple entities. According to various embodiments, one or more ofthe above-described components may be omitted, or one or more othercomponents may be added. Alternatively or additionally, a plurality ofcomponents (e.g., modules or programs) may be integrated into a singlecomponent. In such a case, according to various embodiments, theintegrated component may still perform one or more functions of each ofthe plurality of components in the same or similar manner as they areperformed by a corresponding one of the plurality of components beforethe integration. According to various embodiments, operations performedby the module, the program, or another component may be carried outsequentially, in parallel, repeatedly, or heuristically, or one or moreof the operations may be executed in a different order or omitted, orone or more other operations may be added.

FIG. 2 illustrates an operating environment of an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure.

According to various embodiments, an electronic device 201 of FIG. 2 maycorrespond to the electronic device 101 of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the operating environment may include theelectronic device 201, an external electronic device 202, a secondelectronic device 203, and a third electronic device 204.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 201 mayestablish a connection with the external electronic device 202. Forexample, the electronic device 201 may establish the connection with theexternal electronic device 202 by using Bluetooth Low Energy(hereinafter, BLE). In an embodiment, if the electronic device 201 andthe external electronic device 202 establish a communication connectionon the basis of the BLE, the electronic device 201 may operate as ascanner or a master. The scanner may refer to a role of the electronicdevice 201 before the connection using the BLE is established. Themaster may refer to a role of the electronic device 201 after theconnection using the BLE is established. According to variousembodiments, each of a plurality of electronic devices (e.g., theelectronic device 201, the second electronic device 203, and the thirdelectronic device 204) may operate as one of the scanner and the masterdepending on a connection state of the BLE.

According to various embodiments, the external electronic device 202 mayestablish the connection with the electronic device 201. For example,the external electronic device 202 may establish the connection on thebasis of the BLE. In an embodiment, if the electronic device 201 and theexternal electronic device 202 establish the communication connection onthe basis of the BLE, the external electronic device 202 may operate asan advertiser or a slave. The advertiser may refer to a role of theexternal electronic device 202 before the connection using the BLE isestablished. The slave may refer to a role of the external electronicdevice 202 after the connection using the BLE is established.

According to an embodiment, the external electronic device 202 may bemounted inside the electronic device 201. For example, the externalelectronic device 202 may be mounted to at least part of a housing (notshown) of the electronic device 201. At least part of the housing (notshown) may include a shielding member for a waterproof structure.According to various embodiments, the external electronic device 202 maybe referred to as various terminologies including an electronic pen or astylus pen.

In various embodiments, the second electronic device 203 and the thirdelectronic device 204 may receive a signal from the external electronicdevice 202. For example, the second electronic device 203 and the thirdelectronic device 204 may be included in the coverage of a signal forthe BLE connection. Although not shown, each of the second electronicdevice 203 and the third electronic device 204 may include the externalelectronic device (e.g., the electronic pen or the stylus pen). Forexample, the second electronic device 203 may include a second externalelectronic device (not shown) configured to be coupled to the secondelectronic device 203. For another example, the third electronic device204 may include a third external electronic device (not shown)configured to be coupled to the third electronic device 204. The secondexternal electronic device (not shown) may be configured to be pairedwith the second electronic device 203. The third external electronicdevice (not shown) may be configured to be paired with the thirdelectronic device 204.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional structure of theelectronic device 201 according to various embodiments of thedisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, according to various embodiments, the electronicdevice 201 may include a processor 310 (e.g., the processor 120 ofFIG. 1) and a communication module 320 (e.g., the communication module190 of FIG. 1).

The processor 310 may provide overall control to the electronic device201. The processor 310 may perform communication with the externalelectronic device 202 by using the communication module 320. Theprocessor 310 may transmit data to the external electronic device 202 orreceive data from the external electronic device 202 by using thecommunication module 320.

According to an embodiment, the processor 310 may control thecommunication module 320. The processor 310 may transmit controlinformation indicating an operating mode to the communication module320. The operating mode may indicate whether to perform an operation oftransmitting a request for additional information to the externalelectronic device 202, in response to reception of an advertisingpacket. For example, the processor 310 may transmit control informationinstructing the communication module 320 to operate in a first mode foran active scan. The active scan may refer to a mode in which theelectronic device 201 receives the advertising packet from the externalelectronic device 202 and performs a request for additional data to theexternal electronic device 202. The active scan may refer to a modeconfigured such that the electronic device 201 receives the advertisingpacket from the external electronic device 202, bypasses transmission ofan advertising notification to the processor 310 in response to thereception, and transmits the request for additional data to the externalelectronic device 202. The additional data may include a scan responsetransmitted to the external electronic device 202 or a scan responsereceived from the external electronic device 202.

A passive scan may refer to a mode in which the electronic device 201only receives an advertising packet from the external electronic device202, and does not request for additional data. The passive scan mayrefer to a mode configured such that the electronic device 201 receivesthe advertising packet from the external electronic device 202, andtransmits an advertising notification to the processor 310 in responseto the reception.

Referring to FIG. 3, although it is illustrated that the processor 310and the communication module 320 are distinguishable with a separateconfiguration and are operatively coupled, the disclosure is not limitedthereto. According to various embodiments, the processor 310 may beimplemented to be integrated with the communication module 320 as onechip.

FIG. 4 illustrates a Bluetooth protocol stack according to variousembodiments of the disclosure.

A Bluetooth protocol stack 400 of FIG. 4 may include a controller layer410, a host layer 420, and an application layer 430.

Referring to FIG. 4, the controller layer 410 may generate a packet andperform transmission/reception of the generated packet. The controllerlayer 410 may include a physical layer 411 and a link layer 413.

The physical layer 411 may divide a frequency band of 2.4 GHz into 40channels, and may transmit/receive a packet by using the 40 channels.For example, the physical layer 411 may receive an advertising packetvia an advertising channel. The advertising channel may correspond toone of channels #37, #38, and #39. A center frequency of the channel #37may correspond to 2402 MHz, a center frequency of the channel #38 maycorrespond to 2426 MHz, and a center frequency of the channel #39 maycorrespond to 2480 MHz. For another example, the physical layer 411 maytransmit/receive a data packet with respect to the external electronicdevice 202 via a data channel. The data channel may refer to a channelfor transmitting/receiving a packet after a connection is establishedbetween the electronic device 201 and the external electronic device202. The data channel may include 37 channels, i.e., the channel #0 tothe channel #36.

The link layer 413 may perform hardware and software processes. Thehardware process may include a plurality of hardware processes includinga process for Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) generation or packetverification using CRC and a process for generating a preamble or anaccess address value. The software process may include processes relatedto a connection state with respect to the external electronic device202. For example, the software process may define a role of theelectronic device 201 and the external electronic device 202. Foranother example, the software process may change an operating state ofthe electronic device 201. The link layer 413 may change the operatingstate of the communication module 320 from a standby state to a scanstate on the basis of control information received from the processor310. The electronic device 201 may listen an advertising packet from theexternal electronic device 202 on the basis of the changed scan state.

In various embodiments, the host layer 420 may perform a logic operationfor performing Bluetooth communication. The host layer 420 may at leastinclude a Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP) 421, aSecurity Manager Protocol (SMP) (not shown), an ATTribute protocol (ATT)423, a Generic ATTribute profile (GATT) 425, and a Generic AccessProfile (GAP) (not shown).

The L2CAP 421 may provide a service for data security. For example, theL2CAP may perform encapsulation of a packet. The SMP (not shown) mayprovide the connection and data transmission/reception between theelectronic device 201 and the external electronic device 202. The ATT423 may provide a profile for using a service of the external electronicdevice 202. The GATT 524 may perform a function of the service of theexternal electronic device 202, acquired from the ATT. The GAP (notshown) may provide an interface between the electronic device 201 andthe external electronic device 202 by using paring and boding.

The application layer 430 may include an application using communicationbased on the BLE. For example, a first application of the applicationlayer 430 may request the communication 320 to operate in a first modefor an active scan. For another example, a second application of theapplication layer 430 may request the communication module 320 tooperate in a second mode for a passive scan. If at least one applicationamong a plurality of applications included in the application layer 430requests for the first mode for the active scan, the application layer430 may transmit control information instructing the communicationmodule 320 to operate in the first mode for the active scan. Accordingto various embodiments, the application layer 430 may receive a scanresponse via the controller layer 410, and may transmit controlinformation to the controller layer 410 to request for a BLE connectionwith the external electronic device 202 on the basis of the receivedscan response. The controller layer 410 may transmit a connectioninitiation (e.g., CONNECT_REQ) to the external electronic device 202 onthe basis of the control information.

FIG. 5 illustrates a signal exchange for a BLE-based communicationconnection of the electronic device 201 according to various embodimentsof the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, a signal exchange between a processor 301 and acommunication module 320 may be an exchange of a signal generated insidethe electronic device 201. A signal exchange performed among theelectronic device 201, the external electronic device 202, the secondelectronic device 203, and the third electronic device 204 may be anexchange of a signal generated via On The Air (OTA).

According to various embodiments, in operation 511, the processor 310transmit control information related to an operating mode to thecommunication module 320. The processor 310 may transmit controlinformation indicating one of a first mode for an active scan and asecond mode for a passive scan to the communication module 320. Thefirst mode for the active scan may correspond to a mode configured totransmit to the external electronic device 202 a signal for requestingfor additional information, in response to reception of an advertisingPDU of a predefined type from the external electronic device 202. Thesecond mode for the passive scan may correspond to a mode configured toreceive the advertising PDU of the predefined type from the externalelectronic device 202 and not to transmit to the external electronicdevice 202 the signal for requesting for the additional information. Thesignal for requesting for the additional information may include a scanrequest. The predefined type may include an ADV_IND type or anADV_SCAN_IND type among the types of the advertising PDU. According toan embodiment, the control information may be transmitted from theprocessor 310 to the communication module 320 through a Host ControllerInterface (HCI). The HCI may refer to an interface for providingtransmission/reception of control information including instructions orcommands between the communication module 320 and the processor 310.

According to an embodiment, if at least one application among theplurality of applications of the application layer 430 requests tooperate in the first mode for the active scan, the processor 310 maytransmit control information indicating the first mode to thecommunication module 320. The control information related to theoperating mode may also be referred to as LE_SET_SCAN_PARAMETERS. Thecommunication module 320 may receive the control information, and maychange network parameters for performing the active scan through thefirst mode. Although not shown, the communication module 320 maytransmit information indicating that the operating mode has completelychanged to the processor 310, in response to reception of the controlinformation.

According to various embodiments, although it is described that theprocessor 310 transmits the control information to the communicationmodule 320 on the basis of the request of the at least one applicationamong the plurality of applications of the application layer 430 tooperate in the first mode for the active scan, the disclosure is notlimited thereto. For example, the host layer 420 may transmit thecontrol information such that the communication module 320 (e.g., thecontroller layer 410) operates in the first mode regardless of theoperating mode requested by the plurality of applications of theapplication layer 430.

According to various embodiments, in operation 513, the processor 310may transmit control information indicating a scanning start to thecommunication module 320. The communication module 320 may operate in astandby state before receiving the control information indicating thescanning start. The standby state may correspond to a state in which thecommunication module 320 does not transmit/receive a packet. Theprocessor 310 may change a state of the communication module 320 fromthe standby state to the scanning state by transmitting controlinformation indicating the scanning. The scanning state may refer to astate in which the communication module 320 listens an advertisingpacket or a scan response. Although not shown, the communication module320 may transmit information indicating that the state of thecommunication module 320 has completely changed to the scanning state tothe processor 310, in response to the control information indicating thescanning start.

According to various embodiments, in operation 515, the externalelectronic device 202 may transmit an advertising packet. The externalelectronic device 202 may broadcast the advertising packet to aplurality of electronic devices located within a coverage area for theBLE. The plurality of electronic devices may include, for example, theelectronic device 201, the second electronic device 203, or the thirdelectronic device 204.

According to an embodiment, the communication module 320 of theelectronic device 201 may receive the advertising packet transmittedfrom the external electronic device 202 by performing scanning whileoperating in the scanning state. The communication module 320 mayreceive the advertising packet via a predetermined advertising channel.For example, the communication module 320 may receive the advertisingpacket from the external electronic device 202 while performingfrequency hopping according to a predetermine rule via one channel amonga channel #37, a channel #38, and a channel #39.

According to various embodiments, in operation 517, the plurality ofelectronic devices may respectively transmit scan requests to theexternal electronic device 202, in response to reception of theadvertising packet. For example, the external electronic device 202 mayrespectively receive the scan requests from the plurality of electronicdevices. According to an embodiment, the advertising packet which isbroadcast from the external electronic device 202 may be received in theplurality of electronic devices substantially at the same time. Theplurality of electronic devices, for example, the electronic device 201,the second electronic device 203, and the third electronic device 204,may wait for a designated time interval in response to reception of theadvertising packet. The designated time interval may refer to a minimumwait time required when the communication module 320 transmits a scanrequest to the external electronic device 202 in response to receptionof the advertising packet. The designated time interval may be 150 μs.

According to various embodiments, in operation 517, the externalelectronic device 202 may receive scan requests respectively from theplurality of electronic devices. The plurality of electronic devices,for example, the electronic device 201, the second electronic device203, and the third electronic device 204, may receive the advertisingpackets, which are broadcast from the external electronic device 202,substantially at the same time, and may transmit each of the scanrequests to the external electronic device 202 after the designated timeinterval. The plurality of electronic devices may respectively transmitthe scan requests to the external electronic device 202 via one of thethree advertising channels (e.g., the channel #37, the channel #38, andthe channel #39).

According to various embodiments, in operation 517, the externalelectronic device 202 may receive the scan requests respectively fromthe plurality of electronic devices (e.g., the electronic device 201,the second electronic device 203, or the third electronic device 204)which have received the advertising packet. The scan request may bereferred to as SCAN_REQ. The advertising packet transmitted by theexternal electronic device 202 corresponds to an undirected attribute,and thus may be transmitted to the plurality of electronic deviceslocated within a BLE coverage. The plurality of electronic devices mayrespectively transmit the scan requests in response to reception of theadvertising packet.

According to an embodiment, each of the scan requests (e.g., operation517) transmitted from the plurality of electronic devices to theexternal electronic device 202 may act as a collision. The externalelectronic device 202 may receive each of the scan requestssubstantially at the same time after the designated time interval from atime point at which the advertising packet is broadcast in operation515. For example, a time interval until the plurality of electronicdevices receive the advertising packet and transmit the respective scanrequests may be substantially identical. The time interval maycorrespond to a predetermined value (e.g., 150 μs). The scan requestsreceived via the same advertising channel may act as interferences toeach other. For example, the plurality of electronic devices (e.g., theelectronic device 201, the second electronic device 203, and the thirdelectronic device 204) may transmit the respective scan requests via thechannel #37. The interference which may occur between the scan requeststransmitted from the plurality of electronic devices at thesubstantially same time may interrupt the external electronic device 202from successfully receiving the scan request transmitted from theelectronic device 201.

According to various embodiments, in operation 519, the externalelectronic device 202 may transmit a scan response to the electronicdevice 201. The scan response may include transmission of an advertisingPDU of an SCAN_RSP type. According to an embodiment, if the externalelectronic device 202 successfully receives the scan request transmittedfrom the electronic device 201, the external electronic device 202 maytransmit the scan response to the electronic device 201 which hastransmitted the scan request. The scan response may include addressinformation and data information of the external electronic device 202.

Although not shown, in operation 515, the communication module 320 mayreceive the advertising packet while operating in the second mode forthe passive scan. The communication module 320 may be configured totransmit an advertising notification to the processor 310 upon receivingthe advertising packet while operating in the second mode. Theadvertising notification may include a device address and advertisingdata of the external electronic device 202. The communication module 320operating in the second mode may receive the advertising packet, and maytransmit the advertising notification to the processor 310 withouthaving to perform operation 517 for transmitting the scan request to theexternal electronic device 202 and operation 519 for receiving the scanresponse from the external electronic device 202.

According to various embodiments, in operation 521, the communicationmodule 320 of the electronic device 201 may transmit the advertisingnotification to the processor 310. The communication module 320 mayreceive the scan response from the external electronic device 202 whileoperating in the first mode for the active scan. The communicationmodule 320 may transmit the advertising notification to the processor310 upon receiving the scan response while operating in the first modefor the active scan. The advertising notification may include a deviceaddress of the external electronic device 202 and data included in thescan response.

According to various embodiments, in operation 523, the processor 310 ofthe electronic device 201 may transmit, to the communication module 320,control information for requesting for a connection with the externalelectronic device 202. For example, upon receiving a user input (e.g., atouch of an object displayed on a display as SYNC) for datasynchronization with the external electronic device 202, the processor310 may instruct the communication module 320 to transmit the connectioninitiation.

According to various embodiments, in operation 525, the communicationmodule 320 may transmit the connection initiation to the externalelectronic device 202 on the basis of the request. According to variousembodiments, the connection initiation may include a PDU of aCONNECT_REQ type.

According to various embodiments, the external electronic device 202 maysimultaneously receive the connection initiation transmitted by theelectronic device 201 and the scan request transmitted by otherelectronic devices (e.g., the second electronic device 203 or the thirdelectronic device 204). According to an embodiment, in operation 519,the external electronic device 202 may transmit the scan response. Theelectronic device 201 may receive the transmitted scan response and maytransmit the connection initiation. Each of the second electronic device203 and the third electronic device 204 may transmit the scan request.Therefore, the connection initiation transmitted from the electronicdevice 201 and the scan request transmitted from each of the secondelectronic device 203 and the third electronic device 204 may causeinterference to each other. Due to the interference, the externalelectronic device 202 may fail to receive the connection initiationtransmitted from the electronic device 201.

Although not shown, operations 515 to 519 may be performed repeatedly.According to an embodiment, the electronic device 201 may transmit thescan request repeatedly according to a predefined rule. The predefinedrule may be determined based on a backoff algorithm related to the scanrequest. For example, after transmitting the scan request, theelectronic device 201 may retransmit the scan request as soon as a timeelapses at which the scan response is expected to be received. Foranother example, after receiving the scan request, if the scan requestis not received, the electronic device 201 may transmit the scan requestafter the predetermined time interval elapses. The backoff algorithm maybe determined as any count by an operator or a manufacturer. Althoughthe backoff algorithm is described in association with the scan requestin the embodiment, the disclosure is not limited thereto. In variousembodiments, the backoff algorithm may be applied to the advertisingpacket transmitted by the external electronic device 202 in operation515 and the scan response transmitted by the external electronic device202.

According to various embodiments, the type of the advertising PDU mayalso be defined based on a plurality of attributes. The plurality ofattributes may include an attribute related to transmission of the scanrequest, an attribute related to transmission of a connectioninitiation, and an attribute related to a presence/absence of a targetdevice. According to an embodiment, the attribute related totransmission of the scan request may be classified into a scannableattribute and a non-scannable attribute. For example, the scannableattribute may indicate that an electronic device (e.g., the electronicdevice 201) which has received the advertising PDU can transmit the scanrequest to a counterpart electronic device which has transmitted theadvertising PDU in response to the reception. For another example, thenon-scannable attribute may indicate that the electronic device (e.g.,the electronic device 201) cannot receive the scan request to thecounterpart electronic device in response to the reception. According toanother embodiment, the attribute related to transmission of theconnection initiation may be classified into a connectable attribute anda non-connectable attribute. For example, the connectable attribute mayindicate that the electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 201)can transmit the connection initiation to establish a Bluetoothconnection to a counterpart electronic device which has transmitted theadvertising PDU. For another example, the non-connectable attribute mayindicate that an electronic device which has received the advertisingPDU cannot transmit the connection initiation for the Bluetoothconnection to the counterpart electronic device which has transmitted tothe advertising PDU. According to another embodiment, the attributerelated to the presence/absence of the target device may be classifiedinto a direct attribute and an undirect attribute. For example, thedirect attribute may indicate that the electronic device (e.g., theexternal electronic device 202) for transmitting the advertising PDU hastransmitted the advertising PDU by including Bluetooth addressinformation of the target device (e.g., the electronic device 201) forreceiving the advertising PDU. For another example, the undirectattribute may indicate that the electronic device for transmitting theadvertising PDU has transmitted the advertising PDU without theinformation on the target device for receiving the adverting PDU.Accordingly, the electronic device which has received the advertisingPDU of the direct attribute may decide whether the target device'saddress information included in the advertising PDU coincides withaddress information of the electronic device which has received theadvertising PDU.

FIG. 6 illustrates an operation of the electronic device 201 accordingto various embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6, in operation 601, the processor 310 may transmitcontrol information for requesting the communication module 320 tooperate in a first mode. For example, the processor 310 may receiveinformation for requesting the communication module 320 to operate in anactive scan from at least one application among a plurality ofapplications. The processor 310 may transmit the control information forrequesting the communication module 320 to operate in the first mode, onthe basis of the received information. The first mode may correspond toa mode in which the communication module is controlled to transmit ascan request to the external electronic device 202, upon receiving anadvertising PDU of predefined types from the external electronic device202, in response to reception of the advertising PDU of the predefinedtypes. The predefined types may include an ADV_IND type and anADV_SCAN_IND type among advertising PDU's types defined in the BLEstandard.

According to various embodiments, the control information may correspondto control information related to the operating mode of FIG. 5. Thecommunication module 320 may set the operating mode of the communicationmodule 320 to the first mode on the basis of the control informationreceived from the processor 310. A state of the communication module 320at a time at which the control information is received may correspond toa standby state. The communication module 320 may change the operatingstate from the standby state to a scan state on the basis of the controlinformation.

In operation 603, the communication module 320 may receive theadvertising PDU from the external electronic device 202 while operatingin the first mode. The advertising PDU may refer to a PDU field of anadvertising type among advertising packets transmitted from the externalelectronic device 202. The advertising packet may include an advertisingPDU or a scanning PDU. The advertising PDU may refer to a PDU field ofan advertising packet in which a PDU_Type field indicates one of anADV_IND type, an ADV_DIRECT_IND type, an ADV_NONCONN_IND type, and anADV_SCAN_IND type. The scanning PDU may refer to a PDU field of anadvertising packet in which a PDU_Type field indicates one of a SCAN_REQtype and a SCAN_RSP type.

In operation 605, the communication module 320 may identify that a typeof the advertising PDU corresponds to a first type on the basis of aheader included in the advertising PDU. The first type may correspond toa newly defined type distinct from the types defined in the BLEstandard. According to an embodiment, the advertising PDU may include aheader and a payload, and the header may include a PDU_Type field. ThePDU_Type field may include information indicating the type of theadvertising PDU. The communication module 320 may acquire informationindicating the type of the received advertising PDU by decodinginformation included in the PDU_Type field.

According to various embodiments, the types of the advertising PDU mayinclude the first type and the predefined types. The predefined typesmay include the ADV_IND type, ADV_SCAN_IND type, ADV_NONCONN_IND type,or ADV_DIRECT_IND type defined in the BLE standard. According to anembodiment, the communication module 320 may transmit a scan request tothe external electronic device 202 in response to reception of theadvertising packet including the advertising PDU of the ADV_IND type orthe ADV_SCAN_IND type. The scan request may include the advertisingpacket including a scanning PDU of a SCAN_REQ type. According to anotherembodiment, the communication module 320 may request the externalelectronic device 202 for a connection initiation, in response toreception of the advertising packet including the advertising PDU of theADV_DIRECT_IND type. The connection initiation may include anadvertising packet including an initiating PDU of a CONNECT_REQ type.The advertising PDU of the ADV_DIRECT_IND type may include addressinformation (e.g., an AdvA field) of an advertiser and addressinformation (e.g., an InitA field) of a scanner. If the scanner'saddress information included in the advertising PDU of theADV_DIRECT_IND type coincides with the address information of theelectronic device 201, the communication module 320 may request theexternal electronic device 202 for the connection initiation. Accordingto another embodiment, the communication module 320 may receive theadvertising packet including the advertising PDU of the ADV_NONCONN_INDtype. Upon receiving the advertising packet including the advertisingPDU of the ADV_NONCONN_IND type, the communication module 320 may nottransmit a signal for the scan request or connection initiation to theexternal electronic device 202.

The second type may include the advertising PDU type indicating that thescan request can be transmitted to the external electronic device 202.For example, the second type may include ADV_IND and ADV_SCAN_IND. Thecommunication module 320 may identify the advertising PDU type bydecoding information included in the PDU_Type field included in a headerof the advertising PDU. The communication module 320 may store a valueindicating the first type in a memory (not shown) in advance, and maydecide whether a value obtained by decoding the information included inthe PDU_Type field coincides with a value indicating the first type. Ifthe value indicating the first type coincides with the value obtained bydecoding the information included in the PDU_Type field, thecommunication module 320 may determine that the type of the receivedadvertising PDU corresponds to the first type.

In operation 607, the communication module 320 may bypass transmissionof the scan request. The communication module 320 may bypass thetransmission of the scan request to the external electronic device 202on the basis of the fact that the type of the received advertising PDUcorresponds to the first type. According to an embodiment, by bypassingthe transmission of the scan request, the communication module 320 canbe prevented from transmitting a scan request at the same time withother scan requests to be transmitted to the external electronic device202 from other electronic devices (e.g., the second electronic device203 and the third electronic device 204).

In operation 609, the communication module 320 may transmit anadvertising notification to the processor 310. The advertisingnotification may include control information for representing that theadvertising PDU of the first type has been received. The communicationmodule 320 may bypass transmission of the scan request and transmit theadvertising notification to the processor 310, and thus may perform thesame operation as in the second mode for a passive scan only for anadvertising packet including the advertising PDU of the first type.

FIG. 7 illustrates an operation for receiving an advertising PDUaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure. FIG. 7 may include adetailed operation of the electronic device 201 for performingoperations 603 and 605 of FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 7, in operation 701, the communication module 320 ofthe electronic device 201 may receive an advertising packet from theexternal electronic device 202. The advertising packet may include apreamble, an access address, a PDU, and a CRC. The preamble may bedetermined based on an LSB value of the access address. For example, ifthe LSB value is 1, the preamble may be determined to 01010101b. Foranother example, if the LSB value is not 1, the preamble may bedetermined to 10101010b. According to various embodiments, thecommunication module 320 may perform frequency synchronization on thebasis of the preamble. The access address may indicate a packet type. Ifthe packet is an advertising packet, it may correspond to a designatedvalue (e.g., 0x8E89BED6 or 10001110100010011011111011010110b). If thepacket is a data packet, the access address may be determined based on aconnection state of the link layer 413. The PDU may include differentdata depending on the packet type. For example, a PDU included in theadvertising packet (hereinafter, an advertising PDU) may include aheader and a payload. The header may include data (e.g., a PDU_Typefield) indicating a type of the advertising PDU. Data indicating thetype of the advertising PDU may include 4 bits. The type of theadvertising PDU may indicate one of an ADV_IND type (e.g., 0000), anADV_DIRECT_IND type (e.g., 0001), an ADV_NONCONN_IND type (e.g., 0010),an ADV_SCAN_IND type (e.g., 0110), a SCAN_REQ type (e.g., 0011), aSCAN_RSP type (e.g., 0100), and a CONNECT_REQ type (e.g., 0101). The CRCmay be used to identify packet integrity. The communication module 320may use the CRC to identify whether the received packet coincides with apacket transmitted from the external electronic device 202.

In operation 703, the communication module 320 may determine whether thereceived advertising packet includes the advertising PDU. Thecommunication module 320 may decide whether the received advertisingpacket corresponds to the advertising PDU by decoding a header includedin the PDU of the received packet. According to an embodiment, theadvertising packet may be classified into an advertising PDU or ascanning PDU. The advertising PDU refers to an advertising packet inwhich the PDU_Type field included in the header includes informationindicating one of an ADV_IND type, an ADV_DIRECTED_IND type, anADV_SCAN_IND type, and an ADV_NONCONN_IND type. The scanning PDU mayrefer to an advertising packet in which the PDU_Type field included inthe header includes information indicating one of a SCAN_REQ type and aSCAN_RSP type. For example, if the PDU_Type field included in the headerindicates one of an ADV_IND type, an ADV_DIRECTED_IND type, anADV_SCAN_IND type, and an ADV_NONCONN_IND type, the communication module320 may perform operation 705. For another example, if the PDU_Typefield included in the header corresponds to one of the SCAN_REQ type andthe SCAN_RSP type, since the PDU of the received advertising packetcorresponds to the scanning PDU, the communication module 320 mayperform operation 707.

In operation 705, the communication module 320 may acquire a type of theadvertising PDU from header information included in the advertising PDU.The communication module 320 may acquire the type of the advertising PDUby referring to PDU_Type information included in the decoded header. Thetype of the advertising PDU may correspond to one of types of ADV_IND,ADV_DIRECTED_IND, ADV_SCAN_IND, ADV_NONCONN_IND or the first type.

In operation 707, the communication module 320 may identify whether theoperating mode of the communication module 320 is the first mode. If thePDU_Type of the advertising packet is a scan response, the communicationmodule 320 may identify the operating mode. For example, if theoperating mode of the communication module 320 is set to the first modefor an active scan, since the scan response is received as in operation519, operation 709 may be performed. For another example, if theoperating mode of the communication module 320 is set to the second modefor a passive scan, the communication module 320 may transfer thereceived advertising packet to the host layer 420, and may delete thescan response. This is because, if the operating mode of thecommunication module 320 is set to the second mode, the communicationmodule 320 is configured to transmit an advertising notification to theprocessor 310 without having to transmit the scan request to theexternal electronic device 202. Since the scan request has not betransmitted, upon receiving the scan response, the communication module320 may determine that a wrong scan response is received, and thus maydelete the received scan response.

In operation 709, the communication module 320 may decide whether thescan response is received from the same external electronic device 202.The communication module 320 may acquire an address of the externalelectronic device related to the received scan response by decoding thePDU included in the scan response. If an address of the externalelectronic device 202 which has transmitted the scan request is the sameas the address of the external electronic device 202 related to thereceived scan response, the communication module 320 may determine thatthe scan response is received from the external electronic device whichhas transmitted the scan request. Upon receiving the scan response fromthe same device as the external electronic device which has transmittedthe scan request, the communication module 320 may perform operation711. Otherwise, if the address of the external electronic device 202which has transmitted the scan request is different from the address ofthe external electronic device related to the scan response receivedfrom the electronic device 201, since the scan response is received fromanother external electronic device other than the external electronicdevice which has requested for the scan, the communication module 320may discard the received advertising packet and may receive a new packetvia an advertising channel.

In operation 711, the communication module 320 may perform scanfiltering. The scan filtering may include filtering for selectivelytransmitting an advertising notification to the processor 310 uponreceiving a scan response while the communication module 320 operates inthe first mode for the active scan or upon receiving an advertising PDUwhile the communication module 320 operating in the second mode for thepassive scan. According to various embodiments, the scan filtering mayalso be referred to as Advertising Packet Content Filtering (APCF).

FIG. 8 illustrates an operation of processing an advertising packet onthe basis of a first type according to various embodiments of thedisclosure. FIG. 8 may include a detailed operation of the electronicdevice 201 for performing operations 605, 607, and 609.

Referring to FIG. 8, in operation 801, the communication module 320 ofthe electronic device 201 may decide whether a type of an advertisingPDU coincides with the first type. The first type may refer to a typedistinct from types defined in the BLE standard. For example, the firsttype may be expressed as an ADV_NONSCAN_IND type. The first type mayhave an UNDIRECTED attribute. An advertising packet including theadvertising PDU of the first type may not include an address of ascanner device or master device. Upon receiving the advertising packet,the first type may correspond to a type configured to transmit only aconnection initiation without having to transmit a scan request. If thetype of the advertising PDU coincides with the first type, thecommunication module 320 may perform operation 815. Upon identifyingthat the type of the advertising PDU is different from the first type,the communication module 320 may perform operation 803.

In operation 803, the communication module 320 of the electronic device201 may decide whether the type of the advertising PDU coincides with asecond type. The second type may include at least one type among typesof an advertising PDU defined in the BLE standard. The second type mayinclude a type indicating that the electronic device 201 will transmit ascan request to the external electronic device 202, in response toreception of an advertising packet. For example, the second type mayinclude an ADV_IND type or an ADV_SCAN_IND type. The communicationmodule 320 may determine whether the type of the advertising PDUcoincides with the second type, that is, whether the type of theadvertising PDU corresponds to one of the ADV_IND type and theADV_SCAN_IND type. If the type of the advertising PDU corresponds to oneof the ADV_IND type and the ADV_SCAN_IND type, the communication module320 may perform operation 805. Upon identifying that the type of theadvertising PDU does not correspond to the ADV_IND type and theADV_SCAN_IND type, the communication module 320 may perform operation807.

In operation 805, the communication module 320 of the electronic device201 may transmit a scan request. The communication module 320 mayreceive an advertising PDU while operating in the first mode. Thecommunication module 320 may identify that the type of the receivedadvertising PDU corresponds to one of types included in the second type.The communication module 320 may identify that the type of the receivedadvertising PDU corresponds to the ADV_IND type or the ADV_SCAN_INDtype, and may transmit the scan request to the external electronicdevice 202 on the basis of the first mode. In the first mode, uponreceiving the advertising PDU of the ADV_IND type or the ADV_SCAN_INDtype, the electronic device 201 may control the communication module 320to transmit the scan request in order to request for additionalinformation. The communication module 320 may transmit the scan requestto the external electronic device 202, and may standby to receive a scanresponse.

In operation 807, the communication module 320 may determine whether areceived advertising PDU includes address information. The addressinformation may include address information on a scanner device or amaster device. The address information may be included in an InitA fieldin the payload of the received advertising PDU. According to anembodiment, a type of the received advertising PDU may include theremaining types other than a type capable of transmitting a scan requestamong types predefined in the BLE standard. The type of the receivedadvertising PDU may correspond to an ADV_DIRECT_IND type or anADV_NONCONN_IND type. For example, upon identifying that the type of thereceived advertising PDU corresponds to the ADV_DIRECT_IND type, thecommunication module 320 may determine that the address information isincluded. Upon identifying that the received advertising PDU includesthe address information, the communication module 320 may performoperation 809. For another example, if the type of the receivedadvertising PDU corresponds to the ADV_NONCONN_IND type, thecommunication module 320 may determine that the address information isnot included in the advertising PDU. Upon identifying that the receivedadvertising PDU does not include the address information, thecommunication module 320 may perform operation 815.

In operation 809, the communication module 320 of the electronic device201 may determine whether address information of the electronic device201 coincides with an address included in the received advertising PDU.For example, the communication module 320 may acquire an address of atarget device to which the external electronic device 202 intends toestablish a connection, by decoding an InitA field in the payloadincluded in the advertising PDU. The communication module 320 maydetermine whether the acquired address of the target device coincideswith the address of the electronic device 201. For example, if theacquired address of the target device coincides with the address of theelectronic device 201, the communication module 320 may performoperation 811. For another example, upon determining that the acquiredaddress of the target device does not coincide with the address of theelectronic device 201, the communication module 320 may performoperation 813.

In operation 811, the communication module 320 may transmit a connectioninitiation. For example, upon receiving an advertising PDU of anADV_DIRECT_IND type, the communication module 320 may identify thataddress information included in the InitA field in the payload coincideswith address information of the electronic device 201. The communicationmodule 320 may transmit a signal for requesting for a connection to theexternal electronic device 202 on the basis of the identification. Thesignal for requesting for the connection may include a connectioninitiation signal. The connection initiation signal may include a PDU ofa CONNECT_REQ type.

In operation 813, the communication module 320 may discard the receivedpacket. The communication module 320 may receive an advertising PDU ofan ADV_DIRECT_IND type, and may acquire an address of a target device onthe basis of the InitA field in the payload of the advertising PDU. Ifthe acquired address information is different from the addressinformation of the electronic device 201, the communication module 320may determine that the packet is to be transmitted to any otherelectronic devices, and may discard an advertising packet including theadvertising PDU.

In operation 815, the communication module 320 may perform scanfiltering. The scan filtering may include filtering for selectivelytransmitting an advertising notification to the processor 310 uponreceiving a scan response while the communication module 320 operates inthe first mode for the active scan or upon receiving an advertising PDUwhile the communication module 320 operating in the second mode for thepassive scan. According to various embodiments, the scan filtering mayalso be referred to as Advertising Packet Content Filtering (APCF). Forexample, the communication module 320 may not transmit the advertisingnotification, for all received packets, while operating in the secondmode for the passive scan. The scan filtering may be configured toidentify only an advertising packet conforming to a predefined filteringcondition. The communication module 320 may transmit the advertisingnotification to the processor 310 only for the advertising packetconforming to the filtering condition.

FIG. 9 illustrates an operation of processing an advertising packet onthe basis of predefined data according to various embodiments of thedisclosure. FIG. 9 may include a detailed operation of the electronicdevice 201 for performing operations 801 and 803 of FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 9, in operation 901, the communication module 320 mayidentify that a type of an advertising PDU is different from the firsttype. The communication module 320 may acquire PDU_Type data by decodinga header of the advertising PDU. The communication module 320 mayidentify that the type of the advertising PDU corresponds to one of thesecond type, the ADV_DIRECT_IND type, or the ADV_NONCONN_IND type on thebasis of the acquired PDU_Type data. For example, if a value indicatingthe first type is predetermined as 1000, the communication module 320may identify that the value of the PDU_Type data is not 1000.

In operation 903, the communication module 320 may identify a payload ofthe advertising PDU. The communication module 320 may identify a lengthof advertising data included in a payload by decoding data indicating alength of the payload included in the header. The communication module320 may decode the advertising data on the basis of the identifiedpayload length.

In operation 905, the communication module 320 may determine whether atleast part of the payload of the advertising PDU coincides withpredefined data. According to an embodiment, the advertising dataincluded in the payload may include a flag, a first service UniversallyUnique IDentifier (UUID), and a second service UUID. The first serviceUUID and the second service UUID may indicate a service that can beprovided using the electronic device 201. The services that can beprovided by the electronic device 201 may be stored in a form of aprofile in GAPP of the host layer 420. The first service UUID mayinclude, for example, a 16-bit value selected from a Bluetooth SpecialInterest Group (SIG). The second service UUID may be randomly defined bythe electronic device 201, and may include, for example, a 128-bitvalue.

According to various embodiments, the predefined data may include aservice UUID value. For example, the service UUID value may be definedfor the external electronic device 202 (e.g., an electronic pen). Forexample, the first service UUID for the external electronic device 202may be defined as 0xFDDB, and the second service UUID for the externalelectronic device 202 may be defined asEDFEC62E-9910-0BAC-5241-D8BDA6932A2F. The predefined data may include atleast part of the first service UUID value, or may include at least partof the second service UUID value. The communication module 320 mayacquire advertising data included in the payload, and may identifywhether the predefined data is included among the service UUID valuesfor the external electronic device 202.

According to various embodiments, if at least part of the payload of theadvertising PDU coincides with the predefined data, the communicationmodule 320 may perform operation 815. On the basis of the coincidence,the communication module 320 may provide control to bypass transmissionof the scan request, to perform only scan filtering, and to transmit anadvertising notification to the processor 310.

Although it is described in the aforementioned embodiment that thepredefined data includes at least part of the service UUID value, thedisclosure is not limited thereto. According to various embodiments, thepredefined data may include at least some of different field values ofthe advertising data. For example, the different field values of theadvertising data may be a different field value defined in the BLEstandard such as a flag (a data type value=0x01), a local name (a datatype value=0x09), or a shortened local name (a data type value=0x08).

Although it is described in the aforementioned embodiment that thepredefined data refers to data for one field value, the disclosure isnot limited thereto. The predefined data may include data for at leastone field value among a plurality of fields. For example, the predefineddata may include all of data for a first field (e.g., a flag field)value and data for a second field (e.g., a second service UUID field)among the plurality of fields. That is, the electronic device 201 maydecide whether the second service UUID field value and the flag fieldvalue are included in the predefined data. For another example, thepredefined data may include data for one field value among data for afirst field (e.g., flag field) value and data for a second field (e.g.,first service UUID field) value among the plurality of fields. That is,the electronic device 201 may decide whether the flag field value isincluded in the predefined data or the first service UUID field value isincluded in the predefined data.

Referring to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, although it is described that theoperation 905 for deciding whether at least part of the payload of theadvertising PDU coincides with the predefined data is performed laterthan the operation 801 for deciding whether the type of the advertisingPDU coincides with the first type, the disclosure is not limitedthereto. In various embodiments, the communication module 320 mayidentify a payload before identifying the type of the advertising PDU.The communication module 320 may selectively decode a field forindicating a length of the payload among data included in the header.The communication module 320 may decode the payload on the basis of afield value indicating a length of the decoded payload. Thecommunication module 320 may determine whether at least part of thepayload coincides with predefined data. For example, it may bedetermined whether at least part of data indicating a service UUIDincluded in the payload coincides with the predefined data. Although itis described in various embodiments that the communication module 320identifies whether the type of the advertising PDU corresponds to thefirst type, and if the type of the advertising PDU does not correspondto the first type, determines that the at least part of the payload ofthe advertising PDU coincides with the predefined data, the disclosureis not limited thereto. The communication module 320 may bypass theidentifying of the type of the received advertising PDU, and mayindependently perform whether at least part of the payload of theadvertising PDU coincides with the predefined data.

FIG. 10 illustrates an operation of the electronic device 201 accordingto various embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 10, in operation 1001, the communication module 320 ofthe electronic device 201 may receive an advertising PDU including aheader and a payload from the external electronic device 202. Theexternal electronic device 202 may correspond to a device to be pairedwith the electronic device 301. For example, the external electronicdevice 202 may correspond to an electronic pen.

In operation 1003, the communication module 320 of the electronic device201 may identify a type of an advertising PDU included in the header.The advertising PDU may include the header and the payload, and theheader may include a PDU_Type field. The electronic device 201 maydecode the PDU_Type field to acquire data indicating the type of theadvertising PDU. The communication module 320 may identify the type ofthe advertising PDU on the basis of the acquired data. For example, thetype of the advertising PDU may include a first type or a predefinedtype. The predefined type may include types defined in the BLE standard.For example, the predefined type may include one of an ADV_IND type, anADV_SCAN_IND type, and ADV_NONCONN_IND type, and an ADV_DIRECT_IND type.The first type may refer to a type different from the predefined typeand not defined in the BLE standard. The first type may correspond to atype indicating not to request the external electronic device 202 toprovide additional information even though the advertising PDU isreceived while the communication module 320 operates in a mode foractive scanning.

In operation 1005, if the PDU type corresponds to the predefined typeand at least some of the data fields includes a selected identifier, theelectronic device 201 may transmit an advertising notification on thebasis of data included in advertising. The predefined type may includetypes defined in the BLE standard. The predefined type may correspond toan ADV_IND type, an ADV_SCAN_IND type, an ADV_NONCONN_IND type, or anADV_DIRECT_IND type. The data field may correspond to at least one fieldamong fields included in the payload. The selected identifier maycorrespond to an identifier including predefined data. The selectedidentifier may be information for representing a service UUID indicatinga service that can be provided by the electronic device 201. Forexample, the selected identifier may be information for representing aservice UUID indicating a service using the external electronic device202. If the PDU type corresponds to the predefined type and if at leastone of the data fields includes the selected identifier, thecommunication module 320 of the electronic device 201 may transmit anadvertising notification to the processor 310. For example, even if thePDU type corresponds to the predefined type, when at least one of thedata fields include the selected identifier, the communication module320 may bypass transmission of a scan request to the external electronicdevice 202. The communication module 320 may bypass the scan request andtransmit the advertising notification to the processor 310. Theadvertising notification may refer to control information transmittedfrom the communication module 320 to the processor 310, and may furtherinclude information indicating that the advertising notification isgenerated based on the identifier.

FIG. 11 illustrates an operation of the electronic device 201 accordingto various embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 11, in operation 1101, the electronic device 201 mayreceive an advertising PDU from the external electronic device 202 byusing the communication module 320. The advertising PDU may refer to aPDU included in an advertising packet. The advertising PDU may refer toa PDU when a type of the PDU included in the advertising packetcorresponds to one of an ADV_IND type, an ADV_SCAN_IND type, anADV_NONCONN_IND type, and a newly defined type (e.g., a first type). Forexample, the received advertising PDU may not include the advertisingPDU of the ADV_DIRECT_IND type. Upon receiving the advertising PDU ofthe ADV_DIRECT_IND type, the communication module 320 may bypasstransmission of a scan request and transmit a connection initiation tothe external electronic device 202 only when scanner address informationincluded in the advertising PDU of the ADV_DIRECT_IND type coincideswith address information of the electronic device 201. This is becausethe advertising PDU of the ADV_DIRECT_IND type corresponds to only anadvertising packet transmitted/received between a scanner and anadvertiser having a BLE connection history, and may not be suitable foran advertising packet for an initial connection.

In operation 1103, the electronic device 201 may identify that a type ofan advertising PDU included in a header of the advertising PDU is afirst type. The advertising PDU may include a header. The header mayinclude a PDU_Type field. The electronic device 201 may receive anadvertising PDU not including information on the electronic device 201.Among the types of the advertising PDU, ADV_DIRECT_IND may include theinformation on the electronic device 201. The information on theelectronic device 201 may include information on a Bluetooth address ofthe electronic device 201. ADV_DIRECT_IND may be an advertising packetfor a fast re-connection with a previously connected electronic device201. Therefore, upon receiving the advertising PDU including theinformation on the electronic device 201, the electronic device 201 maybe configured to transmit a connection initiation to the externalelectronic device 202. Upon receiving the advertising PDU not includingthe information on the electronic device 201, the electronic device 201may identify a type of the advertising PDU by decoding the PDU_Typefield. The identified type of the advertising PDU may correspond to oneof the ADV_IND type, the ADV_SCAN_IND type, the ADV_NONCONN_IND type,and the first type. The first type is a type not defined in the BLEstandard, and may refer to a type different from the ADV_IND type, theADV_SCAN_IND type, and the ADV_NONCONN_IND type. The first type maycorrespond to a type indicating not to request the external electronicdevice 202 to provide additional information even though the advertisingPDU is received while the communication module 320 operates in a modefor active scanning.

In operation 1105, the electronic device 201 may transmit an advertisingnotification to the processor 310 on the basis of data included inadvertising. The communication module 320 of the electronic device 201may transmit the advertising notification to the processor 310 on thebasis of the data included in the advertising PDU. The data included inthe advertising PDU may include the PDU_Type field. If the PDU_Typefield indicates the first type not defined in the BLE standard, thecommunication module 320 of the electronic device 201 may transmit theadvertising notification. According to various embodiments, thecommunication module 320 may receive the advertising PDU of the firsttype while operating in the first mode for an active scan. Thecommunication module 320 may transmit a scan request, or may transmitthe advertising notification to the processor 310 without having totransmit the scan request to the external electronic device 202, on thebasis of reception of the advertising PDU of the first type, even thoughoperating in the first mode configured to receive a scan response.Accordingly, the electronic device 201 may bypass the scan request toavoid interference between scan requests transmitted by a plurality ofelectronic devices (e.g., the second electronic device 203 or the thirdelectronic device 204).

In various embodiments, the electronic device 201 may include thecommunication module 320 supporting communication based on BLE and theprocessor 310 operatively coupled to the communication module 320. Theprocessor 310 may be configured to transmit control information torequest the communication module 320 to operate in a first mode. Uponreceiving an advertising Packet Data Unit (PDU) of predefined types fromthe external electronic device 202, the first mode may correspond to amode of controlling the communication module 320 so that a scan requestis transmitted to the external electronic device 202 in response toreception of the advertising PDU of the predefined types. Thecommunication module 320 may be configured to receive the advertisingPDU from the external electronic device 202, while operating in thefirst mode, on the basis of the control information, identify that atype of the received advertising PDU corresponds to a first typedistinct from the predefined types, on the basis of a header included inthe received advertising PDU, bypass transmission of the scan request onthe basis of the identifying, and transmit to the processor 310 anadvertising notification for representing that the advertising PDU ofthe first type has been received.

In various embodiments, the predefined types may include ADV_IND orADV_SCAN_IND.

In various embodiments, the first type may correspond to non-scannableattribute, connectable attribute, and undirected attributes.

In various embodiments, the communication module 320 may be furtherconfigured to determine whether address information of the electronicdevice 201 is included in the received advertising PDU.

In various embodiments, the communication module 320 may be configuredto transmit a connection initiation to the external electronic device202 in response to the identifying that the address information of theelectronic device 201 is included in the advertising PDU.

In various embodiments, the first mode may be configured such that thecommunication module 320 receives a scan response transmitted from theexternal electronic device 202 in response to the scan request, andtransmits an advertising notification to the processor 310 on the basisof the received scan response.

In various embodiments, the communication module 320 may be configuredto identify whether predefined data among the remaining data other thanthe header is included in the received advertising PDU, and transmit anadvertising notification to the processor 310 on the basis of theidentifying of the predefined data.

In various embodiments, the predefined data may include a UniversallyUnique IDentifier (UUID).

In various embodiments, the UUID may correspond to information foridentifying the external electronic device.

In various embodiments, the advertising notification may include a MediaAccess Address (MAC) address of the external electronic device 202 andReceived Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) information, and the externalelectronic device 202 may include an electronic pen mountable to ahousing of the electronic device 201.

In various embodiments, the electronic device 201 may include a userinterface, a wireless communication circuit configured to supportBluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless communication, and upon receiving anadvertising Packet Data Unit (PDU) of a predefined type from theexternal electronic device 202, to request the external electronicdevice 202 for additional information, and the processor 310 operativelycoupled to the user interface and the wireless communication circuit.The wireless communication circuit may be configured to receive theadvertising PDU including a header and a payload from the externalelectronic device 202, identify a type of the advertising PDU includedin the header of the advertising PDU, identify a data type included inthe payload of the advertising PDU, and transmit an advertisingnotification to the processor 310 on the basis of data included in theadvertising in a state of not transmitting the additional informationrequest to the external electronic device 202, if the identified type ofthe advertising PDU is the predefined type and if at least one of thedata types includes a selected identifier.

In various embodiments, the predefined type may include one of theADV_IND type, the ADV_SCAN_IND type, the ADV_NONCONN_IND type, and theADV_DIRECT_IND type.

In various embodiments, the advertising notification may include a typeof the advertising data, a Bluetooth address of the external electronicdevice 202, and/or a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI).

In various embodiments, the electronic device 201 may include a memoryoperatively coupled to the processor 310. When executed, the memory maystore instructions for allowing the processor 310 to request thewireless communication circuit to establish a connection with theexternal electronic device 202 on the basis of reception of theadvertising notification.

In various embodiments, the external electronic device 202 may include astylus pen.

In various embodiments, the electronic device 201 may include a userinterface, a wireless communication circuit configured to supportBluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless communication and to receive anadvertising Packet Data Unit (PDU) including a header including a fieldindicating a type of an advertising PDU from the external electronicdevice 202, and the processor 310 operatively coupled to the userinterface and the wireless communication circuit. The wirelesscommunication circuit may be configured to receive, from the externalelectronic device 202, an advertising PDU not including information onthe electronic device, identify that a type of the advertising PDUincluded in a header of the advertising PDU is a first type, andtransmit to the processor 310 an advertising notification on the basisof data included in the advertising in a state of not transmitting theadditional information request to the external electronic device 202 onthe basis of the first type.

In various embodiments, the communication module 320 may be furtherconfigured to transmit a connection initiation to the externalelectronic device 202. The first type may not correspond to aconnectable undirected event, connectable directed event,non-connectable undirected event, or scannable undirected event of a BLEstandard.

In various embodiments, the information on the electronic device 201 mayinclude a Bluetooth address of the electronic device 201.

In various embodiments, the electronic device 201 may include a mainprocessor and an auxiliary processor, and the auxiliary processor may beconfigured to consume less power than the main processor, or control aspecified function.

In various embodiments, the electronic device 201 may further comprise apower management module to manage power supplied to the electronicdevice, wherein the power management module includes a power managementintegrated circuit (PMIC).

In various embodiments, the electronic device 201 may further comprise abattery to supply power to at least one component of the electronicdevice, wherein the battery includes at least one of a primary cellwhich is not rechargeable, a secondary cell which is rechargeable, or afuel cell.

In the above-described detailed embodiments of the disclosure, acomponent included in the disclosure is expressed in the singular or theplural according to a presented detailed embodiment. However, thesingular form or plural form is selected for convenience of descriptionsuitable for the presented situation, and various embodiments of thedisclosure are not limited to a single element or multiple elementsthereof. Further, either multiple elements expressed in the descriptionmay be configured into a single element or a single element in thedescription may be configured into multiple elements.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference tovarious embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a communicationcircuitry to support communication based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE);and at least one processor operatively coupled to the communicationcircuitry, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmitcontrol information to request the communication circuitry to operate ina first mode, wherein upon receiving an advertising Packet Data Unit(PDU) of predefined types from an external electronic device, the firstmode corresponds to a mode of controlling the communication circuitry sothat a scan request is transmitted to the external electronic device inresponse to reception of the advertising PDU of the predefined types,and wherein the communication circuitry is configured to: receive theadvertising PDU from the external electronic device, while operating inthe first mode, in response to the control information, identify that atype of the received advertising PDU corresponds to a first typedistinct from the predefined types, on the basis of a header included inthe received advertising PDU, and if the type of the receivedadvertising PDU corresponds to the first type distinct from thepredefined types: bypass transmission of the scan request, and transmitto the at least one processor an advertising notification forrepresenting that the advertising PDU of the first type has beenreceived.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the predefinedtypes comprise at least one of an ADV_IND type or an ADV_SCAN_IND type.3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first type correspondsto at least one of a non-scannable attribute, a connectable attribute,or an undirected attribute.
 4. The electronic device of claim 1, whereinthe communication circuitry is further configured to determine whetheraddress information of the electronic device is included in the receivedadvertising PDU.
 5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein thecommunication circuitry is further configured to transmit a connectioninitiation to the external electronic device in response to theidentifying that the address information of the electronic device isincluded in the advertising PDU.
 6. The electronic device of claim 5,wherein the first mode configures the communication circuitry to:receive a scan response transmitted from the external electronic devicein response to the scan request, and transmit an advertisingnotification to the at least one processor in response to the receivedscan response.
 7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein thecommunication circuitry is further configured to: identify whetherpredefined data among remaining data other than the header is includedin the received advertising PDU; and transmit an advertisingnotification to the at least one processor in response to theidentifying of the predefined data.
 8. The electronic device of claim 7,wherein the predefined data comprises a Universally Unique IDentifier(UUID).
 9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the UUIDcorresponds to information for identifying the external electronicdevice.
 10. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the advertisingnotification comprises a Media Access Address (MAC) address of theexternal electronic device and Received Signal Strength Indication(RSSI) information, and wherein the external electronic device comprisesan electronic pen mountable to a housing of the electronic device. 11.An electronic device comprising: a user interface; a wirelesscommunication circuit configured to support Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)wireless communication, and upon receiving an advertising Packet DataUnit (PDU) of a predefined type from an external electronic device, torequest the external electronic device for additional information; andat least one processor operatively coupled to the user interface and thewireless communication circuit, wherein the wireless communicationcircuit is configured to: receive the advertising PDU, the PDUcomprising a header and a payload, from the external electronic device,identify a type of the advertising PDU included in the header of theadvertising PDU, identify a data type included in the payload of theadvertising PDU, and transmit an advertising notification to the atleast one processor on the basis of data included in the advertising PDUand withhold transmission of the additional information request to theexternal electronic device, if the identified type of the advertisingPDU is the predefined type and at least one of the data types comprisesa selected identifier.
 12. The electronic device of claim 11, whereinthe predefined type comprises at least one of an ADV_IND type, anADV_SCAN_IND type, an ADV_NONCONN_IND type, or an ADV_DIRECT_IND type.13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the advertisingnotification comprises at least one of a type of the data included inthe advertising PDU, a Bluetooth address of the external electronicdevice, or a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI).
 14. Theelectronic device of claim 11, wherein the electronic device comprises amemory operatively coupled to the at least one processor, and whereinthe memory stores instructions, when executed, for allowing the at leastone processor to request the wireless communication circuit to establisha connection with the external electronic device in response toreception of the advertising notification.
 15. The electronic device ofclaim 11, wherein the external electronic device comprises a stylus pen.16. An electronic device comprising: a user interface; a wirelesscommunication circuit configured to support Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)wireless communication and to receive an advertising Packet Data Unit(PDU) comprising a header including a field indicating a type of anadvertising PDU from an external electronic device; and at least oneprocessor operatively coupled to the user interface and the wirelesscommunication circuit, wherein the wireless communication circuit isconfigured to: receive, from the external electronic device, theadvertising PDU not including information on the electronic device,identify that a type of the advertising PDU included in the header ofthe advertising PDU is a first type, and transmit to the at least oneprocessor an advertising notification on the basis of data included inthe advertising PDU and withhold transmission of an additionalinformation request to the external electronic device in response toidentification that the type of the advertising PDU is the first type.17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the wirelesscommunication circuit is further configured to transmit a connectioninitiation to the external electronic device, and wherein the first typedoes not correspond to a connectable undirected event, connectabledirected event, non-connectable undirected event, or scannableundirected event of a BLE standard.
 18. The electronic device of claim16, wherein the information on the electronic device comprises aBluetooth address of the electronic device.
 19. The electronic device ofclaim 16, wherein the first type corresponds to non-scannable,connectable, and undirected events.
 20. The electronic device of claim16, wherein the external electronic device comprises a stylus pen. 21.The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the first type comprises anADV_DIRECT_IND type and scanner address information included in theadvertising PDU coincides with address information of the electronicdevice.
 22. The electronic device of claim 16, further comprisingtransmitting a connection initiation to the external electronic device.